Wanted: Names and information on military veterans from Smoky Hollow neighborhood

Wanted: Names and information on military veterans from Smoky Hollow neighborhood

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Smoky Hollow alumni and military veterans, Gerald Nunziato and Felix Lazazzera, are trying to locate all the names of ‘Hollow’ military members killed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War for placement on the Smoky Hollow Memorial.

Located at the corner of Rayen Avenue and Walnut Street, the Memorial was built in 1957 by the Golden Eagle Club to honor 12 Smoky Hollow residents who lost their lives in WWII and the Korean War, including Ralph Lazazzera, Felix’s cousin.

But when Nunziato, whom Lazazzera credited with doing most of the research, decided to develop profiles of men listed on the Memorial, he encountered some surprises.

He discovered that one name on the Memorial – Donald Novak – was incorrect and should be Daniel Novak, a Navy Seaman who died in 1947 of wounds suffered during the war.

He also learned that Smoky Hollow resident, Army Pvt. Joseph D. Siegel, whom he said was the first Vindicator employee killed in WWII, was not listed on the Memorial.

“It’s important to correct Novak’s name and add names that were not known when the Memorial was built. When someone gives their life for their country they should not be forgotten ... and if a name is wrong or not there, we should correct that,” said Lazazzera.

To make the names on the memorial as correct and complete as possible, Nunziato and Lazazzera asks anyone who knows of other names that should be on the Smoky Hollow Memorial to e-mail information to SmokyHollow@zoominternet.net or call Nunziato at 330-953-1551.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.